Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Live Portnoy to silent Golem


My love for silent films screened with live musical accompaniment having been previously established, I can cut right to the calendar listing and let the people know that our friends at Webster University Film Series are screening The Golem (directed by Carl Boese & Paul Wegener, 1920) on Sunday, October 5 at 8 p.m. at Moore Auditorium (on the campus of Webster University, 470 E. Lockwood, Webster Groves) with live, musical accompaniment by Kim Portnoy and guests.

Here is what the filmheads at the film series say about The Golem:

"Widely recognized as the source of the Frankenstein myth, the ancient Hebrew
legend of the Golem provided actor/director Paul Wegener with the substance for
one of the most adventurous films of the German silent cinema. Suffering under
the tyrannical rule of Rudolf II in 16th-century Prague, a Talmudic rabbi
(Albert Seinrück) creates a giant warrior (Paul Wegener) to protect the safety
of his people. Sculpted of clay and animated by the mysterious secrets of the
Kabbalah, the Golem is a seemingly indestructible juggernaut, performing acts
of great heroism, yet equally capable of dreadful violence. When the rabbi's
assistant (Ernst Deutsch) takes control of the Golem and attempts to use him
for selfish gain, the lumbering monster runs rampant, abducting the rabbi's
daughter (Lyda Salmonova) and setting fire to the ghetto."
Sunday nights are tough for this daddy, but since I just cancelled a road trip for that weekend, I have some bargaining power on the domestic front, so maybe, just maybe, I'll be there in the flesh.

Admission is $6 for me and you, $5 for old folks, students from others chools and Webster alumni, and $4 for Webster University staff and faculty.

*

Image of Gary Lucas live scoring The Golem from his website.

2 comments:

Tony Renner said...

my combo, learn, artist!, would be great for such a thing...

i've contacted mike at the webster film series but have heard nada....

-- tony

http://www.myspace.com/learnartist

Poetry Scores said...

If Mike doesn;t bite, an independent promotion at a club could be fun.